Dhaka, Dec 8 (IANS) Bangladesh's political discourse has shifted dramatically, increasingly shaped by social media broadcasts, online speeches, Islamic sermons, viral videos, memes, slogans, filthy language, abuse, and tearful, dramatic livestreams, a report said on Monday.
According to the report in Bangladesh’s leading newspaper The Daily Star, currently in the country, two distinct strands of extremist populism walk side by side and, in many places, shake hands -- one rooted in revolutionary nationalist rhetoric built around the July 2024 demonstrations and the other operate through religious platforms, madrassa networks, and the language of waaz (Islamic sermon).
It added that although they appear opposites at first glance, their communication patterns reveal that they are playing the same game in different jerseys.
“Equal rights for women, reform of inheritance law, recognition of third-gender people, talk of pluralism in the constitution—all this is branded as a ‘Western agenda’. We are told that these are ‘attacks on the faith of the people’ and ‘plots to destroy the country’. As a result, women, minorities, human rights workers, and dissenters all come under pressure at the same time. In this strand, ‘the people’ are defined in one narrow way. Anyone who does not share that exact belief is pushed out of the people's camp and placed with the enemies,” the report detailed.
“The language, dress, and stage of these two strands are different, but they converge at one point: both speak ‘in the name of the people’. Both declare one or more parties ‘illegitimate’ rather than treating them as political rivals. Both want to mould the state and constitution into their own shape. Both are convinced that they are so morally superior that no one else has the right to question them,” it stated.
The report emphasised that another alarming trend is the romanticising of violence-- when slogans such as "we want the rope," "ban them," or "wipe them out" become normal at rallies, when death videos draw applause on social media, when the authorities or political parties quietly encourage this pattern, people begin to believe that political problems can only be solved by eliminating the other side.
“One day we will see that even in small disagreements people do not look for compromise; they look for ways to finish their opponent,” the report noted.
--IANS
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